Evaluation of Guarantee Instrument and Technical Assistance Offered to Enat Bank to Increase Access to Capital for Women-Owned/Managed Small Medium Enterprises in Ethiopia

Established in 2013, Enat Bank is a niche bank focusing on lending to women-owned/managed SMEs in Ethiopia. It was started by women – for women – and is currently 66% owned by women. Sida together with USAID has provided technical assistance to Enat Bank since 2016. This contribution follows the Swedish strategy for development cooperation for Ethiopia (2016-2021), which well reflects local public priorities for economic development as articulated in Growth and Transformation Plan II (GTP), the national development plan for Ethiopia (2016-2020). 

Tana Copenhagen has been assigned to conduct an evaluation of Sida’s assistance to Enat Bank. The purpose of the evaluation is to: i) assess the performance of the Enat Bank Guarantee by analysing the extent to which the desired outcomes have been achieved, isolating important lessons derived from the implementation of the guarantee facility and the role of the technical assistance; ii) receive a stakeholder mapping and provide recommendations for future guarantee prospects and innovative financing opportunities in Ethiopia; and iii) identify needs for technical assistance within innovating financing while looking for different options for technical assistance support in line with the new development strategy.